Monday’s Spark Notes and shutting down the grid:  The Powers That Be & Shutdown Eve

FROM THE DESK OF CLEARANCE JOBS.COM

1.   OPM’s bonus bonanza.  Contributor Diana Rodriguez digs through OPM’s new bonus and incentive regulations, and guess what: “The desired outcome is that the newly improved incentives . . . especially those in the fields of Defense and Information Technology (IT), will appeal to  candidates who may have previously discounted federal service, and encourage them to apply. . . . As per the guidance, the waiver allows for the bonus payments to be paid to the employee in a service period not to exceed 50 percent of the employee’s annual rate of basic pay at the beginning of the service period, multiplied by the number of years in the service period.”

2.  Government Shutdown: a lot you need to know but didn’t want to have to ask. Contributor Charles Simmins lays it out with links and more: “In the absence of an adopted budget or continuing resolution (CR), the majority of the Federal government closes. Civilian employees are furloughed and program spending virtually ceases.”

THE FORCE AND THE FIGHT

1.  Hollow House gestures unwelcomed in the Senate: FederalTimes.Com reports,  the House voted 420-0 to keep paying troops, but the Senate doesn’t see it that way: “The military pay measure appropriates to the U.S. Treasury whatever sum of money is needed to cover pay and allowances for active and reserve personnel. It also covers pay and allowances for federal civilians determined by the Defense secretary as ‘providing support’ to active and reserve members and also provides money for the pay and allowances of defense contractors providing support to military members. The pay for federal civilians and contractors would also extend to those working for the Department of Homeland Security for Coast Guard-related duties. . . . There is no indication the U.S. Senate will pass the bill or that President Obama would sign it.”

2. SecDef Hagel begins trooping the Asian-Pacific line. American Forces Press Service’s Karen Parrish reports from Seoul, “Hagel arrived here today on a weeklong Asia-Pacific trip that also will include a visit to Tokyo. Noting that this is his third trip to the region as secretary, Hagel said global and economic trends make the Asia-Pacific region one that will be important in shaping and defining the future.”

3.  On Iran, Israel sees a march to Nukes. AP’s Josef Federman reports, “Mortified that the world may be warming up to Iran, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is taking an unpopular message to the White House and the United Nations this week: Don’t be fooled by Tehran’s new leadership. Netanyahu contends Iran is using conciliatory gestures as a smoke screen to conceal an unabated march toward a nuclear bomb. . . . Monday’s meeting between Netanyahu and President Barack Obama could be tense.” Kerry, however, “sees potential for quick Iran nuclear deal” and from Aljazeera.Com, “Obama and Netanyahu set for tense Iran talks”: “While Obama will attempt to reassure Netanyahu that he will not act prematurely to ease sanctions on Iran, growing signs of a US-Iranian thaw have rattled Israel and could make for a tense encounter between the two leaders.”

4.  In Egypt, Arab spring ends Arab spring. Aljazeera.Com reports that Egyptian Foreign Minister Nabil Fahmy said, “’Work is under way, in line with the roadmap, on several tracks. It has so far succeeded in establishing the principles of justice, freedom and democracy, as a basis for governance . . . . This will be followed by parliamentary elections, then presidential elections, so that the transitional phase ends by next spring. . . . I trust that the international community, which has long rejected terrorism, will firmly stand by the Egyptian people in the fight against violence and its advocates, and will not accept any attempt to justify it, or tolerate it . . . .’”

5.  In AFRICOM, Boko Haram rages in Nigeria. UPI.Com reports from Gujba, Nigeria, “Suspected Boko Haram militants attacked a college dormitory in northeastern Nigeria early Sunday, killing at least 40 students . . . . The terror group Boko Haram has not yet claimed responsibility for the attack, but is active throughout Nigeria and in July carried out a similar attack on a high school dormitory, killing 29 students and a teacher.”

6.  Drones on Haqqani in Pakistan’s North Waziristan. LongWarJournal.Org’s Bill Roggio reports, “The US killed three Haqqani Network members in a strike today in Pakistan’s Taliban-controlled tribal agency of North Waziristan. The strike is just the third in Pakistan this month. The CIA-operated, remotely piloted Predators or the more deadly Reapers fired a pair of missiles at a compound in the village of Darga Mandi in the Ghulam Khan area of North Waziristan, Pakistani . . . . identities of the fighters who were killed have not been disclosed. . . . [the] strike in Darga Mandi is the second in the village this month, and the third strike in Pakistan in September. On Sept. 5, the US killed four Haqqani Network fighters in a strike in the village. Mullah Sangeen Zadran, a senior Haqqani network leader, is rumored to have been killed in the strike. His death has not been confirmed.”

CONTRACT WATCH

1.  $4 billion USD to China for Turkey. China Central Television reports, “Chinese defense manufacturers have won a 4 billion US dollar bid to supply Turkey with long-range missile defense equipment. It’s the first time China has sold missiles to a NATO member. On Thursday, Turkish defense officials chose the FD-2000 system, which features missiles built by Chinese manufacturers, and sold through the China Precision Machinery Import and Export Corporation. The company beat off bids by manufacturers from the US and Russia, as well as a joint French-Italian company. The Chinese bid won because of both technological AND cost effectiveness, according to Turkish analysts, who also say some Chinese defense technology now rivals Russian or Western built weaponry. The deal will provide Turkey with its first ever long-range missile defense system.”

2.  Maybe a quick million – blow the right whistle. DigitalJournal.Com reports, “The Corporate Whistleblower Center is encouraging whistleblowers to call them at 866-714-6466 if they have proof of a defense contractor is over billing the federal government in any way, because the rewards can potentially be in the millions. . . .”

TECH, PRIVACY, & SECRECY

1.  The CIA, Smartphones, and New Zealand’s In-Q-Tel. We have 3-D printers, now CIA’s tech investments give us smartphones that photograph with three dimensions. Wired.Com contributor Matt Marshall reports, “Spike lets you take a smartphone snapshot of something at up to 200 yards away, and then measure, map and 3D model it — and then share it — all within its app. Spike includes a laser-based hardware device that attaches to your phone. It also includes compass, camera and GPS technology. The product is targeted at architects, engineers, interior designers, film set locators, insurance appraiser, underwriter/valuers, commercial painters, arborists, among others.”  Of course, the CIA didn’t help develop the technology for interior designers . . . .

2.  NSA – mapping your spheres of influence. VentureBeat.Com contributor Matt Marshall cover the New York Times report: “Since 2010, the National Security Agency has been creating social graphs of some Americans . . . . These graphs identify people’s associates, their locations at certain times, their traveling companions and other personal information . . . . The NSA authorized the conduct of ‘large-scale graph analysis on very large sets of communications metadata without having to check foreignness’ of every e-mail address, phone number or other identifier, the documents said. It can augment the communications data ‘with material from public, commercial and other sources, including bank codes, insurance information, Facebook profiles, passenger manifests, voter registration rolls and GPS location information, as well as property records and unspecified tax data, according to the documents. They do not indicate any restrictions on the use of such ‘enrichment’ data . . . .’”  Read the original New York Times article.

3.  3-D printers in space will lighten NASA’s load.  Amazing, but true: “NASA is preparing to launch a 3-D printer into space next year, a toaster-sized game changer that greatly reduces the need for astronauts to load up with every tool, spare part or supply they might ever need. The printers would serve as a flying factory of infinite designs, creating objects by extruding layer upon layer of plastic from long strands coiled around large spools. Doctors use them to make replacement joints and artists use them to build exquisite jewelry.”

POTOMAC TWO-STEP

1.  Getting ready for a slow dance, and everyone is playing wall-flower. Reuters describes, “Congress in game of chicken as shutdown looms . . . . The high-stakes chess match in Congress will resume on Monday when the Democratic-controlled Senate reconvenes at 2 p.m. Senate Democrats will then attempt to strip two Republican amendments from the spending bill: the one that delays the 2010 healthcare law known as Obamacare and another to repeal a medical device tax that would help pay for the program.”

2.  Groping under the bleachers: social media, lobbyists, and organizers . . . Heritage Action for America. Time reports, “Republicans and Democrats in Congress are trading blame ahead of Tuesday’s government shutdown, but there’s another culprit in DC’s latest dysfunction whose offices are not to be found in the gilded suites of the Capitol, but in a drab, fluorescent-lit office five blocks away. There, a team of organizers, lobbyists and 20-something social media specialists are harnessing the power of the Tea Party to drive a wrench into Congress’ gears. Heritage Action for America, the political arm of the once esteemed Heritage Foundation, has been working day and night for years to bring about just the crisis now gripping DC.”

3.  If you can dodge a wrench, you can dodge a ball, and blameWashingtonExaminer.Com reports, “If Congress’ showdown over a government shutdown were compared to a tennis match, the ball is now on the Senate’s side of the court, but not for long. Senate Democrats on Monday are expected to reject a House-approved funding bill that would keep the government running through Dec. 15. The measure would then bounce back across the Capitol to the House just hours before the fiscal year ends and the government shuts down.”

OPINIONS EVERYONE HAS

1.  The source of fanaticism.  Aljazeera.Com contributor Richard Falk argues, “Fanaticism carried to these extremes poisons human relations, whether it rests its belief structure on secular foundations as was the case with the Nazis, or rests its claims on a religious creed. It is no more helpful to blame religion, as such, for the Westgate massacre than it would be to insist that godless secularism was responsible for the rise of Hitler or depredations of Stalinism. What we can say with confidence is that there is a genocidal danger associated with any belief system that claims a sacred truth solely for itself and treats those who do not accept the claim as utterly unworthy, if not outright evil.”

2.  “Peace with Iran could be Obama’s Legacy.” Also from Aljazeera.Com, contributor Murtaza Hussain argues, “For the first time in over a decade, moderate and ostensibly peace-seeking leaders are in control of the Presidency in both Iran and the United States. If Obama can seize the initiative at this critical moment, he will have a chance to radically alter the fate of the Middle East and create his own legacy as a leader who managed to bring peace to this troubled, yet deeply significant region of the world.”

3.  “The House Rushes to a Shutdown.” NYTimes.Com editorial board argues, “This time, it wasn’t just a few Tea Party hotheads who drove the United States government to the brink of shutting down. Early Sunday morning, all 231 House Republicans (along with 17 Democrats) decided that crippling health care reform was more important than keeping the government’s doors open. It was one of the most irresponsible votes since the last shutdown in 1996.”

THE FUNNIES

1.  Nukes in Iran.

2.  Work for Food.

 

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Ed Ledford enjoys the most challenging, complex, and high stakes communications requirements. His portfolio includes everything from policy and strategy to poetry. A native of Asheville, N.C., and retired Army Aviator, Ed’s currently writing speeches in D.C. and working other writing projects from his office in Rockville, MD. He loves baseball and enjoys hiking, camping, and exploring anything. Follow Ed on Twitter @ECLedford.